Digital Marketing Strategy for SMEs – 80/20 Rule

There are many challenges in starting a business. Let alone staying afloat and wearing multiple hats day-in and day-out. From sales to marketing, accounting, operations. You name it.

One of the low hanging fruits you can take advantage of as a small business owner is to leverage internet marketing and harness its impact in growing your business. Easier said than done though. There’s a sea of content out there and not knowing where to start and who to listen to is a main hurdle SMEs would consider.

The Pareto Principle

When starting your digital marketing efforts, always think of the Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule wherein 80% of the results come from 20% of the work done. We only have the same 24 hours in a day and it’s smart to allocate efforts on what’s important and would bring the most value.

80/20 Rule for B2C Type of SMEs

When you have a business-to-consumer kind of business you might want to give 80% of your online marketing efforts to your website (SEO and Content) and Facebook owned platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network) Why? Simply because eyeballs/attention are currently highest on Facebook from a mass consumer standpoint.

Focus the remaining 20% of your time on Google Ads, LinkedIn and Email Marketing because these are effective complementary channels to Facebook. Also be in the lookout for emerging channels such as SnapChat and TikTok as anything new is what we call under-priced attention. Google Ads was once cheap at P0.50/click and now to a staggering P50/click on some industries.

80/20 Rule for B2B Type of SMEs

Put your 80% definitely to your website (SEO and Content) and LinkedIn since you want to connect with people in business mindset and while the channel’s organic reach is still at ~50% on average. The remaining 20% will be for Facebook, Email and Google Ads.

Diversify & Adapt Quickly

See something in common? Both B2C and B2B businesses need to focus 80% of their marketing efforts on their website’s SEO and Content. Why? because this is basically your own “real estate” on the web. Even though Facebook and Instagram disappear tomorrow, your customer can still find you.

20 years ago, email is the hottest marketing channel with open rates to as much as 90%. These days 20% is scarce – even with double opt-in email subscribers. But this is not to say email is dead. In fact, far from it. Attention isn’t just there anymore as it did in 1999 but it can be a cost effective complementary channel to Social Media.

When a channel loses its relevance because trends are changing and the market says so, you need to adapt and adjust your 80/20 strategy accordingly.

If you don’t have the time or resources to execute your own digital marketing initiative, outsourcing some or all your work to us will save you both time and money in the long run. Contact us today.